This Could Be Good
by sherlollyshipperalltheway
Summary: The aftermath of Nicky and Lorna's conversation in the middle of 4x13.


**A/N** Hello everyone! I'm back with something new. For those of you waiting for me to continue Nichorello Coutdown, I am working on it, I promise, but I felt like I had to write something about s4 first, as I just finished watching it.

Title from "She Keeps Me Warm" by Mary Lambert.

Red was leaning against the fence near the entrance to the prison waiting for Nicky and Lorna to report back about the makeout shed area as a place for the garden, and when she saw them, she prematurely got her hopes up that they had worked things out. But then she saw that Lorna had been crying. She sighed. _What had Nicky done this time?_

Lorna sniffled softly. "The, uh, makeout alley looks just fine to me. For a garden, of course." She looked over at Nicky and quickly looked down at the ground, then back up at Red. "So, if that's all you need, I gotta get to work or something…" she trailed off.

Red moved her gaze to Nicky and gave her a cold glare before turning back to answer Lorna. "Yes, thank you Lorna."

Lorna shot one last almost longing look in Nicky's direction before shuffling away.

As soon as the small brunette was out of earshot, Red slapped Nicky upside the head. "What the fuck did you do to her now?"

"I—come on, I mean you sent us to the makeout alley for god's sake. What did you think I was going to do? Jesus. All I did was—"

"You know what? I don't want to know the details of how you forced yourself on that poor girl. It's enough to know that you obviously hurt her," replied Red, shaking her head.

Nicky shook her head in return. "God, Red. You really don't fuckin' know me at all. Don't you think I stopped when she said 'no'? That's not why she was upset anyway."

Red waited for an explanation, but when Nicky didn't continue, she spoke instead. "Did you talk too much again, Nicky?" she asked a bit sarcastically.

"Ma, it's not like that. She started yelling at me, and I had to know what's going on. What's really going on. I may have gone a little far, but you can't get anywhere with her without pushing a little, alright? Listen, I didn't hurt her, okay? We even held hands for a minute. See? I'm not all bad."

Red grew rather sober at her last statement. "Nicky, are you under the impression that I think you are 'all bad'?"

"Nah, I mean," the messy haired girl took a breath, "I'm kinda a piece of shit, so I wouldn't blame you. I wouldn't blame Lorna either. Hell, I wouldn't blame anybody who wants to take a swing at me. Not saying I wouldn't hit back, but I'd deserve it for sure."

"Nicky! Stop this right now. You shitting all over yourself isn't going to help you, and certainly it isn't going to help Lorna. Now, I want to trust that you'll be good for her, but she was doing reasonably well until you got back—"

"What? I mean all this time you've been saying how you're glad to have me back, and it's so great to see us all together and shit. What, does that mean nothin'?" Nicky asked in a huff. She stopped rambling to catch her breath, and she caught a knowing look from Red's raised eyebrows. "Oh, right. The drugs thing. But I'm clean, Ma. I swear. Last time was…a mistake, and I could blame fucking Luscek or somebody, but it doesn't matter. I fucked up. I'm done, though. And I really do care about her, you know. Not gonna get all mushy or some shit. The sex was the best I ever had and—" The rest of her words came out mumbled, but Red decoded enough to understand that Nicky said was in love Lorna.

Red smiled at her daughter, and for the first time since she came back, Red felt confident that Nicky was going to be okay. "Good, now go apologize, and keep your hands to yourself," she said with an evil smirk.

"Fuck you, Ma," replied Nicky, but she was smiling her thanks as she walked toward the dorms.

* * *

Lorna walked slowly away from Red and Nicky, her cloudy brain preventing her from speeding up for fear that she might walk into something. Why had Nicky laughed at her? She'd said she wasn't happy to hear that Lorna was ruining her own life, but she sure didn't seem too upset. She managed to make it too her bunk before she started quietly crying again. Thankfully, her bunkmates weren't there.

Before long, the brunette heard a knock on her bunk bed. She wiped her eyes, sat up and looked down at her visitor. The crazy blonde-haired maine framed one of Nicky's most serious faces ever. "Mind if I come up?" asked Nicky, motioning to the top bunk.

"Yeah," Lorna cleared her throat when she realized her voice still sounded like the was crying. "Sure."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, and Nicky absent-mindedly took Lorna's hand.

"You know, I wasn't laughing out there by the shed," said Nicky, truthfully.

"No?"

"No. I was—shit. I was trying to keep from crying."

"Why would that make you cry? There's nothing wrong with your brain," replied Lorna, genuinely confused.

Nicky couldn't help laughing a little at that. "Okay, first off, I think we're all aware there's something pretty wrong inside my brain, it's just under control at the moment. And second, look, I care about you…" Nicky trailed off, seeming searching for the right words, but Lorna thought she was finished.

"So? You care about a lot of people."

"Shut up, kid," snapped Nicky. Lorna's face grew scared again, and the blonde quickly realized her mistake. "No no no, don't cry. I just need a second to collect my thoughts." She blew all the air out of her lungs and took in a slow, deep breath. "When I see you in pain, it makes me hurt too, okay? That's all. I was trying not to cry because I care about you and I'm worried about you."

"You're worried about me?" asked Lorna, her eyes welling up with tears again.

Nicky was fighting tears again herself. "Of course I am, baby. Whenever you get like this, I just want to climb inside your brain and sort everything out so you don't have to be in pain. Why—why are you crying now?"

Lorna responded through her sobs. "I—never knew—you cared like that. I—just—thought it was—about the—sex." She calmed down for a second and spoke again. "These are happy tears, I promise."

Nicky stared back at Lorna with wide eyes. This had not been the reaction she'd been expecting. She was about to reach over and take Lorna in her arms, when the petite woman practically tackled her in an embrace.

"Eyy, watch it Morello. We're going to go flying off this bunk if you're not careful."

They sat there in a comfortable silence, only punctuated by quiet sniffling, for several minutes.

"He's really going to leave me, Nicky. I'm not wrong about that part. He told me I'm crazy."

"He did what? Lorna, I know I've never actually met Mr. Marriage, but I think he's a raging lunatic himself. He's the crazy one, for not seeing when he has a good thing going. You're a keeper, Lorna Morello. You remember that," finished Nicky.

To Nicky's surprise, Lorna reached up and planted a bright pink kiss on her cheek. "I care about you too, Nichols." She laid her head on Nicky's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Nicky grinned and leaned her head against Lorna's. They were going to be okay.


End file.
